Element Oddities: 11 Chemical Symbols that is confusing Explained

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A lot of the chemical symbols for elements within the regular dining table make sense; you can find a little selection, nevertheless, that seem to bear no reference to their element’s title. A few days ago, questions about these elements came up, so here’s a look at their confusing symbols, along with the reasons behind them after the periodic table of rejected element names.

Sodium – Natrium (Na)

Sodium’s Latin name, ‘natrium’, derives through the Greek ‘nítron’ (a true title for salt carbonate). Its initial supply is going to be the work ‘natrun’ that is arabic. Lots of contemporary languages nevertheless call the element natrium in place of salt, plus it’s this title that its symbol that is chemical, arises from.

Potassium – Kalium (K)

‘Kalium’ is potassium’s Latin name, and derives from the Arabic ‘al qal ī y’, meaning “calcined ashes” (the ashes remaining whenever plant product is burned). A number of modern languages still refer to potassium as kalium, and the name lends the element its chemical symbol, K as with sodium.

Iron – Ferrum (Fe)

Iron’s Latin name, ‘ferrum’, offers it its expression Fe; it simply means ‘iron‘sword’ or’, and it is possibly of Semitic origin. The element is famous by many different names in numerous languages, with a few sources suggesting there are over 200 different names for it. There’s an inventory of 213 of those right right right here.

Copper – Cuprum (Cu)

There’s no shortage of elements called after places, but copper’s title is much more subdued than many. Copper’s Latin title had been ‘cyprium’, which it self arises from ‘kypros’, the Greek title for Cyprus. The area of Cyprus had been centuries that are famous for the copper reserves. The title ended up being sooner or later simplified to ‘cuprum’, and also this sooner or later morphed in to the English variation, copper.

Silver – Argentum (Ag)

The Latin title for silver, ‘argentum’, is believed to derive initially from a language that is indo-european most most most likely referring into the metal’s shininess. The nation Argentina is known as after silver (albeit indirectly as mention of the the Río de la Plata) and it is the country that is only be known as after a chemical element, as opposed to the other means around.

Tin – Stannum (Sn)

Tin’s Latin title, ‘stannum’, could be produced by the Indo-European ‘stag’ (dripping) because tin melts at a temperature that is low. There’s also speculation it might be based on the Cornish ‘stean’ because of Cornwall’s famous tin mines, though likewise, other people declare that this term is simply produced from the Latin.

Antimony – Stibium (Sb)

The Latin ‘stibium’ derives through the Greek word ‘stíbi’, meaning attention paint, talking about the utilization of antimony compounds being an eye cosmetic that is ancient. This term is with in turn likely produced from Arabic or Egyptian. Few nations relate to antimony as stibium today, despite its expression.

Tungsten – Wolfram (W)

Wolfram had been called following the mineral it had been present in, wolframite. This might be from the German ‘wolf rahm’, or ‘wolf’s foam’, talking about the quantity of tin ‘eaten’ by the steel during its extraction. Wolfram continues to be found in a few languages. Tungsten is from Swedish, and means hefty rock – significantly apt, since it’s the 7th densest element when you look at the regular table.

Silver – Aurum (Au)

The Latin title for gold had been ‘aurum’, meaning ‘yellow’, derived through the word ‘aurora’ (‘dawn’). The name ‘gold’, used in Germanic languages, means ‘yellow, shining metal’; a great many other European languages use derivatives of aurum.

Mercury – Hydrargyrum (Hg)

Mercury’s initial Latin title was actually ‘argentum vivum’ (living silver), but Latin later borrowed through the Greek ‘hydrargyros’ (fluid silver) to provide ‘hydrargyrum’. The initial English title for the element ended up being ‘quicksilver’. Alchemists considered that it is near to silver, and this is why they called it Mercury, following the earth closest to your Sun. A number of the other metals understood since antiquity got names corresponding into the planets, too, but Mercury’s is alone that’s stuck.

Lead – Plumbum

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Lead’s Latin title, ‘plumbum’, most likely originally derives from a language pre-dating Ancient Greek. This Latin name normally the foundation associated with English words ‘plumbing’ and ‘plumber’, as a result of historic usage of lead in water pipelines.

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Roshini lives and breathes travel. She believes that the road less travelled is always the most interesting, and seeks out experiences and sights that are off the usual tourist-maps. For her, travel is not about collecting stamps on a passport, but about collecting memories and inspiration that lasts way beyond the journey itself.

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